Not Alone, Not Really
by Midnight Cheesecake Maker
Summary: Ami knows she's different than the other children in the village. She has a secret. Now a short series of snapshots from a life that could be. Total Reylo wish fulfillment fluff.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is straight up wish fulfillment. Controversial opinion, Ben Solo had to die, but that doesn't mean he's got to stay that way. Reylo is officially canon. We might have lost the battle but we won the war. This might have a follow up chapter, it might not. I'm just taking an idea that hit me and I'm running with it. This post might give you diabetes, just saying. Unoriginal idea, I know. Just throwing my thoughts into the mix. This is for entertainment purposes only, I own nothing. Enjoy.

* * *

Ami knew she wasn't like most of the children in her village. She attended a local school consisting of all the children within a comfortable walking distance. This included the ones from a neighboring tribe, as that settlement was only half the size of Ami's. The general population chose to live a primitive life, only employing necessary technologies, and doing the most they could to live off the land. Most of their dwellings had been modest huts of sticks, twine and mud.

That had been one thing Ami knew set her apart. She lived down a winding forest path that followed the river. At the end of the path was a clearing where a large, ancient, disc shaped freighter had sat for as long as she could remember. A star ship was not a common sight where Ami grew up, and her unusual home made her both a novelty and an oddity to her fellow students. At the ripe old age of seven, she was more than happy to conduct guided tours of her home and regale her friends with the stories attached to it. Many of the young ones responded with excitement, but there were more than a few others who regarded her with outright contempt. It rarely bothered Ami. Early in her life her mama had taught Ami to search the feelings of others, to try to understand their side. She could feel it, feel that their cruel words were usually born of misunderstanding and fear.

Ami knew she was different because the people in the village thought it is just her and her mama who lived in the star ship.

In the days when Ami was still a mere infant, her mama had established herself as the go-to fixer in the village and surrounding areas. She was often found in the fields repairing a tiller or other such thing. Her mama had quickly become indispensable to the populous. Despite the respect she earned, the people pitied her. Ami could sense it in them every time she and her mama would walk in the market. Her mama was beautiful, and strong, and fierce, and so so kind. They'd whisper about the still mysterious woman who lived on the outskirts of the village with a fatherless daughter in a ship that could sail among the stars. Not a hermit - quite the opposite - but with no eye to a single one of the handsome men of the village who had all on more than one occasion tried to catch her interest.

Ami knew she was different because she knew that her and her mama didn't live in that star ship alone. Not really.

Her daddy was always there. He had been for as long as Ami could remember. Her mama told her that wasn't always the case but Ami simply didn't believe it. She had felt her daddy nearby since long before she'd been born.

The problem was no one seemed to see her daddy besides her and her mama. She remembered the first time she brought a friend home from school to show them her house and introduce them to her parents. When she casually pointed to the copilot seat and said innocently, "This is daddy's spot," the other child with her appeared downright scandalized.

"You don't have a daddy," he'd told her very matter-of-factly in the local dialect.

Ami remembered frowning up, way up, at the man in question. The smile her father had given her in that moment was tight, and he'd waved his hand to dismiss the subject until later. That evening, snuggled in her bunk, Ami's mama and daddy explained the complicated truth.

To say it was a lot for a five year old to take in would have been an understatement. However, as Ami drifted to sleep that night, she'd thought about how much she loved her daddy, and how much he loved her. She could still show the other kids in the village her house. She could still tell them stories. She and mama just had a secret she didn't mind keeping.

And so that was how the last two years of little Ami's life had gone. She knew she was different because she had a secret. She knew she was different because she knew when others do too. And she knew she was different because she had a daddy that no one could see.

* * *

Rey had only recently returned from her pilgrimage to Tatooine when she realized something was different. There was a shift in the force after she had claimed the name of Skywalker. It was all light and warmth, coursing through her and mending the broken pieces of her soul. It brought her the first true feeling of balance since she'd lost Ben.

Only the feeling didn't last.

The night after she had returned, she dreamed of him. She saw through his eyes her lifeless form. She felt his anguish as he realized she was gone. She felt the sting of tears in his eyes, the weight of her body in his arms. She felt his resignation, and then determination as he re-positioned her in his lap and placed his large hand across her abdomen. She felt his life leave him as it poured into her.

Rey awoke with a sob of despair. And then she felt what she could only describe in the moment as a twinge. It was fleeting but its implications were lasting.

One hand flew to her mouth while the other settled on her abdomen.

"No," she whispered to the dark.

* * *

Looser robes and straight denial only covered the evidence for so long. By her fifth month carrying the accursed thing, she could no longer hide the truth of her condition. Finn was really the first one to figure it out. Only the morning after she'd discovered the truth herself did he seem to catch on. He had just run into her in a cramped hallway and was about to ask her a question when he had stopped dead and regarded her whole being suspiciously.

Rey wasn't fully able to conceal the unease in her voice when she asked, "What is it?"

Finn had snapped out of it right after. "Uh, nothing. Just a, uh, feeling. It's nothing." He had seemed to let it go in the moment so Rey had counted her blessings and moved on.

It was at the three month mark that he'd asked her without even a shred of hesitation, "It's his, isn't it?"

"I don't know wha-"

"Rey," he interjected, not unkindly, " you don't have to hide it from me."

Hot tears welled up in her eyes. This bloody thing was completely robbing her of any of her self-control. How could she be a proper Jedi when she was in such emotional agony?

Finn had gently tugged her forward and wrapped his arms around her. She'd let her head fall against his shoulder while her body shook with angry sobs. "It is," came her strangled reply. "It must have happened when he saved me. I don't understand. If there was that much life left in him, he should have stopped! He should have saved himself instead of leaving me alone with this thing! I don't know what I'm going to do, Finn. I don't -. But she had been unable to finish her words as she cried in earnest.

While Finn had been supportive and kind as he always was, the rumors that began to circulate about Rey's condition and who was responsible had caused an obvious change in the way others treated her. Rey had sensed their fear at the thought of what a child born of Kylo Ren and a Palpatine could be capable of, and while she understood their fears, living with the reality of them did nothing to improve her own feelings about her situation. So, at seven months, Rey packed up the Millennium Falcon and left the place she had called home for the last year and a half. To say her loved ones were hesitant to let her go would be an understatement, but in the end, they were unable to deny the soon to be new mother.

She spent the next month wandering the galaxy, letting the Force guide her to her next destination.

When she meditated it was always with a mind to balance. She would attempt to find the light between the loss and the resentment she felt. She rarely succeeded. In her time since discovering her condition, she had not been able to hear or see the voices of the Jedi that came before. That moment on Tatooine when she saw Luke and Leia had been the last. This had caused yet another deep wound on her soul.

One morning, on a lush planet, in a forest clearing where the river met a lake, Rey set down her ship. She had detected a settlement and had landed the ship nearby with the intent to trade and resupply her food stores.

As she stood from the pilot seat, a sharp and throbbing pain took her breath away. She leaned forward on the back of the chair trying to center herself. The feeling passed and she proceeded to the back hatch of the ship. The ramp was opening when the same feeling overtook her. She unsuccessfully tried to hold back an audible groan. "Damn it," she whispered as the feeling passed. Not two steps down the ramp it happened again followed by a sudden and undeniable wetness. "No!" she cried out in frustration. "Not now," she breathed, clutching her protruding stomach.

She maneuvered herself to the living quarters of the ship while another contraction had her gripping at the corridor walls. When she finally pulled herself onto the mattress of the captain's cabin, she lay there whimpering, tears sliding down the sides of her face. She was alone. She was already exhausted. How was she going to do this alone? Help was too far. There wasn't enough time. This was too soon. Too fast.

But then she steadied her breathing. She closed her eyes. She reached out with the Force, through the pain, through the fear. She felt another contraction come on and continued to breathe, to reach out. It was working. She was back in control. So she turned her search inward. Her soul touched the one within and her eyes flew open. She gasped and covered her mouth to suppress the elated sob that bubbled up in her throat. "A girl," she whispered in awe. So long had she repressed the child's attempts to reach out to her. She had purposely closed herself off from it, refusing to accept this life, when it should have belonged to another. But now she felt it. Felt light, and warmth.

And Ben.

A sudden and ineradicable love bloomed in Rey. She let her mind clear and allowed the force to flow through her, sharpening her instincts. All of her being told her that it was close, that she would have to start pushing soon. Sure enough, just as she finished removing her leggings, another contraction, this one more powerful than the last threatened to split her apart. Then another. And another.

The moment came and she began to push.

She pushed again.

She seemed to push endlessly and nothing

Something was horribly wrong.

She closed her eyes and tried to find the baby. It was there, but it was faint. Rey cried out in distress. She thrashed exhaustively. "No, no, no, no, please, no." Another contraction, another push with all her might, and nothing. "Please, please, I can't. I can't do this alone."

"You're not alone," she heard faintly.

She bolted up straighter, eyes wildly flying around the room, but nothing. Perhaps in her agony she'd become delirious.

"You're not alone. Hold on, Rey." It was clearer this time, unmistakable.

"I can't. I'm losing her! Please, Ben!" She cried, sobbed, rocked, in pain and misery and an intense fear she never knew herself capable of. "I'm losing her!"

And then she felt it. A presence at her back. A soft ripple of air, like a breath by her ear. "I'm here, Rey. I'm here. It will be okay."

Rey looked back to see him behind her, intangible and glowing blue, but it was him. It was Ben. More tears, this time equal parts relief and distress. "I'm losing her, Ben. Something is wrong. She's fading."

Ben shifted to kneel beside the bed. He pushed sweat soaked strands of hair from her eyes and held her face with glowing hands. "You're not going to lose her," he said reassuringly. He closed his eyes and reached out between them. He opened his eyes, nodding. "She's breech," he said confidently.

Rey shook her head in confusion. "What?" she cringed through another wave of pain.

"She isn't in the right position for birth. She's stuck. Normally, this would require surgery."

Rey moaned. "But there is no one here."

Ben squeezed her hand. Well, almost. "You can do this, Rey. Find her. Turn her around."

Realization dawned on her. She gave him a pleading stare. "I need help. I'm so tired, Ben."

If force ghosts could form lumps in their throats, then Ben supposed that's what was happening now. He swallowed hard in spite of himself and tentatively placed an illuminated hand on her belly. Hers came to rest on his. Almost solid. Together they reached out, searching inside, feeling the energy of the tiny being. She was there, faint but still fighting. She came by it honestly. Together, they worked and coaxed the infant into place, delicate but firm in the task, until, with heavy sighs of relief, she was where she was meant to be.

Rey began to push again and while the pain was excruciating, her fear had ceased and there was nothing left but bold determination. Ben stayed knelt on the floor, watching as the woman who owned his whole being brought their child into the world. He reassured her with calm and tender words as she wept.

"She's coming, you're almost there. Can you feel it?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"One more, sweetheart." He caught her eye and nodded up at Rey. His hands were outstretched between her legs.

"One more," she agreed.

And then, she was there. And Ben was holding her, with solid arms. They had lost their translucency, their subtle blue glow. The room dimmed because of it. So distracted by the crying infant in his arms, Ben never seemed to notice. So dizzying were Rey's emotions that she scarcely noticed either. Except when Ben sat beside her, she felt the weight of him, the movement of the mattress as he settled beside her. She felt the warmth of his hands as he placed the crying infant on her chest. But as she examined the baby for ten fingers, ten toes, two brown eyes and a shock of black hair, she truly saw the solid state of Ben's hand on her shoulder. "Ben," she gasped in astonishment. Ben's eyes were fixed on the baby, so he only hummed in acknowledgement as he looked upon the wriggling little being that was his daughter.

"Ben, look at yourself."

Ben frowned but did as he was told. His mouth dropped open slightly. His intangible, non-corporeal form was as solid and clear as Rey's vision of their future. He shook his head, unwilling to accept what was happening lest it was come cruel joke the force was playing on him. "I don't understand," he murmured as he stood back up to examine himself further.

"Are you really here?" Rey dared to ask, her voice barely finding volume.

"Yes?" Ben frowned. "No. I don't know."

Rey nodded, adjusting her grip on the baby, swallowing hard. "I understand. You feel real, but... not like you're fully here. Like a part of you is still a ghost."

Ben looked down at the baby then back at Rey. "It's her. I can feel it. She's holding more of me here than the force would normally allow."

Rey wiped away some of the afterbirth from the baby's eyes with one of the blankets. She examined the tiny face that now peered up at her silently. Suddenly overwhelmed by even more miraculous news, Rey choked on a sob. "She brought you back to me." Rey wept as she clutched the newborn to her chest reverently. "I'm so sorry, little one. I'm so sorry." Ben was back at her side immediately. He slid until his back hit the wall, then leaned forward to help Rey and the baby move back until they were rested against him. He rocked Rey gently, patiently, quietly in awe of all that was before him.

She calmed eventually, and they lay there for a time, enjoying the cocoon of peace that wrapped around them.

"She needs to feed," Rey said finally. "I can tell."

His soft chuckle behind her warmed Rey in a way she never knew she could be. She had only seen him smile one beautiful, heartrendingly brief time. To hear him laugh was almost transcendent. "What?" she dared to ask as she guided the baby to her breast. The feeling was strange but the relief was instantaneous for both mother and daughter.

"So could I," he replied, kissing her hair. "That's going to take some getting used to." He felt the hope swell in Rey.

"So, you're not leaving?"

He chuckled again and stroked the cheek of his feeding daughter. "Never. Besides, I don't think I have a choice."

They bathed the baby, and Ben helped to clean Rey up before settling them all back onto a freshly made bed. Ben's back was against the wall, and Rey lay back between his legs, the infant in her arms.

"What should we call her? Leia?"

She felt Ben shake his head, rather than see it. "No," came his gentle reply, sadness evident in his low tone. "No, I want that to stay hers." Rey took his hand from where it rested by her side and raised it to her lips. She kissed his knuckles and nodded. "From the stories I've heard," he continued after a beat, "my grandmother was a lot like you." Rey glanced over her shoulder at him, an inquisitive eyebrow raised. "Anakin Skywalker's wife. She was fearless, passionate, always believed in the right thing, fought for it."

Rey smiled, partly flattered, partly intrigued. "What was her name?"

"Padme Amidala."

Rey mulled the names over in her mind and nodded softly. He knew what she was going to say before she even said it, but it made his chest and throat tighten when she did. "Ami?"

He swallowed hard then pulled them both closer to his chest. "Ami," he agreed.

They watched as Ami's eyelids began to droop. For a brief moment, Rey felt a new fear rise up in her chest. Fear than Ben would begin to disappear. But despite the baby's lack of consciousness, Ben remained at her back, solid as ever, but not fully whole. It made her stomach clench. He sensed her unease and kissed her hair again. "Do you think-" she started but couldn't bring herself to continue.

He absentmindedly rubbed her upper arms. "What?"

"Do you think anyone else can see you?"

Ben considered this for a moment and she felt him shrug. "Does it matter?"

"If I'm going mad it does."

"You aren't going mad."

She knew he was right. About all of it. But she had been alone for so long, so afraid to hope. Now she had Ben at her side, and their daughter in her arms. What if it all was just the force playing tricks on her vulnerable and anguished mind? She took a shuddering breath and leaned out of his arms to twist herself around slightly. "Here," she said, holding Ami out to him. He smiled softly, grateful, and took the baby in both hands. She was so small and his hands so large she almost disappeared in his grasp. Seeing the baby in his arms gave her more reassurance. Maybe other people wouldn't be able to see him, but they could live with that if it meant they could stay this way.

She watched as he brought Ami close to his face, kissing the space between her nose and eyebrows and smelling her head.

"She smells amazing," he sighed. Rey frowned and Ben held Ami out to her. "Don't believe me? Take a whiff."

Rey obeyed, feeling slightly foolish as she sniffed her daughter's head. That awkwardness quickly melted away as Rey caught the sweet, honey scent of the baby. "How did you know?" Rey asked in awe.

Ben's lips came together in a grim smile. "My mom used to smell my head. Sometimes, when she was really worried about me, her memories of me as a young child got really, I don't know, loud, vivid. I get it now."

Maybe it was his words. Maybe it was the way he looked holding their baby. Maybe it was both. Whatever it was, Rey was powerless to resist. Mindful of where her daughter was, she closed the gap between herself and the man before her. Her lips came to rest against his, slower, softer than the last time she had done this, but no less honest or real. Real enough she could taste him. He returned the gesture in kind, one hand coming up to the back of her neck. She braced her hand against his chest to avoid crushing Ami. Then she pulled back slightly, eyes locked on his, waiting. He smiled and it set her soul alight. He didn't fade. She thought she was finally out of tears but then she felt them on her cheeks. He was crying too. She wiped them away with her thumbs, cradling his face in her hands.

"I love you."

A secretive half-smile tugged at the corner of his lip. He began to say something then paused and thought better of it. "I love you," he murmured instead.

Rey grinned back cheekily. "I know."

* * *

Please, no flames. I'm sensitive and I'd like to stay that way.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: A quick one scene one shot, meant more for humor than drama unlike the last one, but still all sweetness. Ami gets to meet her mom's friends and it goes about as well as expected.

* * *

When Ami was nine, she and her mother got visitors. It was the first time in her young life she had laid eyes on any of her mother's friends, but she knew who they were without being formally introduced. When Poe Dameron squatted to her level with a dashing smile and simply said, "Hey, kid," Ami felt her face blush hot. Her father rolled his eyes, and Rey would have swatted him in the back of the head if it wouldn't have looked so bizarre. Rey and Ami were experts at schooling themselves around all the people who couldn't see Ben. Well, Rey was. Ami still couldn't stop herself from giggling at her father's antics from time to time. Her dad was funny, in a smug, sarcastic kind of way.

While Poe made her bashful, Finn made her happy. His excitement was infectious. It radiated off of him like warm sunshine. He bound up to Rey, scooping her up and spinning her around. They laughed and chattered like they were never apart. The spell broke for a second when Finn paused and frowned over Rey's shoulder, his eyes dead fixed on the point where Ben sat. Then he blinked, shook his head, grinned again and turned his attention to Ami. Another wave of excitement crashed into her, and before she knew it, she was up in the air in a tight embrace, just like Rey had been seconds ago.

"You must be Ami! I can't believe I finally get to meet you!"

Ami enthusiastically wrapped her arms around the man's neck and replied, "And you're Finn!"

Poe leaned over to Rey with a pout. "He got a hug. I didn't get a hug. Why does he get a hug?"

Rey looked on with amusement as Finn pulled back a little, surveying the little girl more closely. "Did the Force tell you that?" he inquired with an impressed smirk.

"No," Ami giggled. "Mom did!" Finn let her slide down to stand on her own two feet.

Finn glanced over to Rey and she smiled brightly back at him. "Well, I bet she didn't tell you everything. Should we go inside and I can tell you all about it over a game of Dejarik?" He held a hand out to Ami which she readily took.

"Yes, please. Can you tell me about when you and Poe escaped from Dad's ship? I like that one but Mom wasn't there and Dad doesn't know much except it was you that helped Poe get away. And I should warn you that I'm really good at Dejarik because I've been playing since I was-" Ami's babbling ceased abruptly. Her mother, father, Poe, and Finn were all fixing her with the same stunned expression. She sensed panic in her parents and confusion in the visitors.

"Ami!" Rey exclaimed breathlessly.

Poe's body language was rigid with suspicion. "Rey, what's she talking about?"

Rey's mouth was opening and closing like the minnows at the edge of the river and Ben was on his feet, no longer a casual observer. He looked ready to, Ami wasn't sure, pounce? It was the most intimidating Ami had ever seen her normally relaxed father.

Ami's head whipped around at all the adults several times. "What?" she inquired innocently. "Finn knew Dad was there. I saw him looking at him."

"Finn?!" Everyone questioned in unison, attention automatically shifting to the former Stormtrooper turned Resistance general. "Care to explain?" Poe continued for them.

"I don't know what she's talking about, guys. I didn't see anything. I am just as confused as you."

Ami furrowed her brow and shook her head insistently. "No, you did! You were looking right at him right over there." Ami pointed at the cargo crate her father had occupied only minutes ago. Rey closed the gap between herself and her daughter. She knelt before Ami and gave her a soft, but warning nudge through the force.

"Ami, darling, what are you talking about?"

Ami hung her head in in disappointment. "Mom, I'm not trying to get Dad in trouble. I'm telling you, Finn knew he was there. Maybe he couldn't see him, but Finn knew he was there, I swear!" She looked up at an increasingly nervous Finn. "Please, Finn. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

Finn's gaze was shifting rapidly between all three of the people staring at him. "Okay," he sighed after an uncomfortably long silence. "I think, and I can't be totally sure, but I _think_, I may have felt Kylo Ren through the Force."

Ami saw her father's jaw twitch at the use of his dark side identity but he didn't say anything. Rey chanced an apologetic glance at Ben, but her eyes couldn't linger long. Poe's head was whipping back and forth between Rey and Finn. Ami huffed in frustration at all of them. Ami tapped Finn's shoulder to gain his attention. "His name is Ben Solo, actually," she corrected the man sternly. Now Finn appeared sheepish. Her eyes moved around the circle of the adults closing in on her. "Kylo Ren died on the wreckage of the Death Star," she explained in a way the suggested she had overheard this said and was reciting it verbatim.

"Ami," her father sighed.

Ami was determined. "We can trust them, Dad," she insisted with small fists, facing what appeared to be a blank spot in the circle. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, which Finn and Poe had both seen her mother do a thousand times. It would have been adorable to watch a tiny version of Rey center herself if the situation hadn't been so tense. When she found her balance again, the little girl opened her eyes and regarded the grown ups calmly. "Dad is here. I'm his..." she trailed off and thought for second. She searched for the words she'd heard her parents use when she was supposed to be asleep. "Tether?" She looked to her mother for confirmation. Rey nodded, looking proud in spite of herself. "I'm his tether. I keep him here."

The visitors still appeared befuddled. "Well, I'm lost!" Poe exclaimed, throwing hands up in the air and pacing a few steps. "Finn, I get that you, ya know, feel stuff in the Force or whatever, but how did you know it was Kylo Ren?"

"I wasn't sure!", "Ben Solo!" Ami and Finn protested at the exact same time.

"And Rey!? Rey, I know there was a rumor about Ami's father, but I didn't think it was true! You let Kylo Ren-?"

"I did not let-", "That's not how it hap-", "Ben Solo!"

"Wait!" Poe yelled above everyone. "Hang on, back up. Finn, have you known for a fact that Ky- Ben Solo was Ami's father this whole time?"

Finn exhaled deeply through his nose. "I suspected something was up, and Rey finally told me a few months in."

Ami fixed Finn with a doe-eyed stare. "Thank you for being so nice about it," was her still very nine year old addition to the conversation. Finn gave her a tight smile, doing a poor job to mask his anxiety. Ami smiled encouragingly. "It's okay, keep going."

"Rey got pregnant when Ben saved her life," Finn sighed. "There was more life left to give than he thought, I guess?" He trailed off uncertainly, gesturing to Rey.

Poe looked to the woman for clarification.

Rey squared her shoulders. Ben was standing behind her, so Rey subtly wrapped her hand around Ben's wrist. To anyone else her hand merely tensed at her side. Ami could feel the conversation her parents were silently engaged in rather than hear it. They kept their thoughts well shielded from her, something that always frustrated her just a little. When the silent conversation ended, Rey nodded. "What Finn said is true."

Poe ran a hand through his hair. "So, is he like one of those force ghosts now? Is that why I got nothing?"

Rey looked as though she were struggling to find the right words. "Not exactly. I thought Ben became one with the force. Only it turned out he didn't. He wasn't able to fully move on. I thought he was gone. I never saw him through my entire pregnancy." Emotion choked her voice in her throat. Ben's arm came up and across Rey's chest in a familiar gesture of comfort. "When I was in labour, something went wrong and Ami was stuck. She was dying. So was I, I think. And then Ben was there with us. He saved us." She glanced over her shoulder with a tender smile. No point being subtle anymore, Rey supposed. "When Ami finally came, something about her physical presence anchored Ben more firmly to our plain of existence."

"Plain of existence, right," Poe muttered to himself. "And you can see him?" he said pointing to Rey. She nodded solemnly. "And you can see him?" He pointed to Ami. She nodded excitedly, happy Poe was finally catching on. "And you," Poe continued, now point to Finn. "You can sense him?" Finn gave a non-committal shrug that more or less said yes.

"Why can you see him but Finn can only sense him?"

Rey bit her lip. "That's complicated."

"I think I'm doing alright taking 'complicated' on board. Keep going."

"Ben and I are what you would call a dyad in the force. Two complete equals, halves of a whole. If you remember, we could see each other across light-years. We could pass things back and forth to one another through the force. We could touch," Rey muttered, suddenly hesitant. She blushed and Ami tilted her head, confused by the waves of embarrassment suddenly rolling off of her mother. "Anyway, while we could see each other, there was only one time anyone ever saw Ben and I together through our connection. When Luke Skywalker had shut himself off from the Force, he was unable to see Ben. When he opened himself up again, he caught Ben in my hut-"

Poe threw his hands up. "Whoa, I don't need to hear this!"

"Holding my hand!", "We were holding hands!" Ami giggled as her parents passionately protested even though Poe couldn't hear one of them.

"Honestly, Poe, my daughter is right there!" Rey reprimanded.

"What was I supposed to think? You said touch, I assumed, you know, _touch_!"

It may have been a few years but Finn was still used to his friends' antics. He glanced down at Ami and sighed. "Some things never change, honestly." Ami sighed as well and rolled her eyes. "I better step in or they'll never stop." Ami nodded. "So you're saying," Finn interjected loudly, "that because I'm force sensitive, I can feel him here but I can't see him because?"

Ami bounced on the balls of her feet. "You can't see him because he isn't a ghost but he isn't a whole person anymore either. He's more like one for me and Mom but that's because he is part of us!" Ami finished in an exasperated rush. Grown ups, honestly. She leaned forward and stage whispered, "Poe can't use the force so he's got nothing."

Poe and Finn paused and blinked in bewilderment at the young girl. After a beat, Poe chuckled. "You are very smart. She is very smart. How is she this smart? How are you this smart?"

She looked over to her dad who smiled encouragingly, but then Ami grew serious again. "I can't get him all the way back," she murmured sadly. "If I were stronger, everyone would get to see him."

Never being known for tact, Poe blurted, "Eh, that's probably for the best, kid."

"Poe!"

"Well, he's not wrong," Ben admitted.

* * *

There, I hope you exhaled through your nose a couple of times :) Thank you for your time!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Another scene shot, this one more sentimental than the last, a little more Reylo-centric. Enjoy :)

* * *

The seasons were long on this planet. Ami had been born in the summer and after nearly ten months, the first signs of autumn were beginning to appear. The locals were preparing for the long harvest, an essential time where they stocked their food stores for the intense winter that would follow. Rey had befriended a few of the villagers in the nearby settlement, and had made herself useful with her knack for repairing anything. Before Ami could crawl, Rey would work with the tiny child strapped to her chest or back, easily accessible when the infant needed to feed. As she grew more mobile and began on solids, it wasn't uncommon for Rey to leave her back with Ben for a few hours.

Ben delighted in the time he spent with their daughter, and Rey often marveled at how much he seemed to love even the most irksome of tasks. Walking back and forth for hours in the dead of night while the baby cried? On it. Bathing her after an explosive nappy? No problem. Rey was loath to admit that the first few months after Ami was born were difficult for her, but such was the reality. If Ben had not been with her, she knew she wouldn't have managed to overcome the struggle. She loved Ami in a way that split her heart open and sewed it back together endlessly, but trauma and postpartum depression were impartial, even for a Jedi. Ben understood without words, and Rey felt his love even when she wasn't too fond of herself during that time.

Thankfully, the fog lifted and the new family had found more than peace. They'd found happiness. It was what had inspired them to stay right where they were all this time. Rey would find work for their basic needs and the villagers were a generous people. Fair trade was not a familiar concept to the former scavenger or her other half, but both were grateful for what they had here. It was as though the Force brought them to this place, and with the exception of a few transmissions from old friends, not much had compelled them to move on.

Rey had just started down the path home when she felt a panicked ripple through the Force. She instantly froze, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. "Ben?" she gasped, eyes frantically searching her surroundings. He didn't appear and a flood of fear threatened to drown her. "BEN!" she cried out desperately. She took off at full speed, dropping a basket of provisions she'd been carrying. She bobbed, weaved, and leapt through the underbrush, well-beaten path forgotten in an effort to reach her family as fast as possible.

When the clearing was in sight, she let out another frantic scream. "Ben! Ami!" She snatched her lightsaber from her belt, igniting it as she burst forth from the trees. She came to a dead stop, teeth bared, weapon ready, shoulders and chest heaving.

Then she dropped her attack pose as the hilt of her saber fell lifeless at her side.

Ben and Ami were outside, only a stone's throw away from her. His gaze was fixed on Ami, who was sitting in the grass. He finally noticed Rey and when their eyes met he sighed with relief. Rey surged forward. "Ben, what's going on?"

He was crouched on one knee. He took Rey's hand and pulled her down to his level gently, and she went without protest, still dumbfounded. Rey followed his gaze to Ami, who gave her mama a two toothed grin upon seeing her. "I'm sorry I worried you," Ben murmured softly. "I was afraid you'd miss it."

Rey frowned at her other half. "Miss wha-" she began but trailed off when she looked back at their daughter. Ami had mastered standing. She was doing it now, in fact. Except she looked poised for more. "Oh!" With chubby arms and fists out in front of her, Ami took one shaky step forward. Rey let out a delighted laugh. "Yes, little one, that's right! Come to Mama!"

"You can do it, Ami. Go to Mama, go to Mama!" Ben added, a wide grin across his face.

Ami took another shaky step, nearly stumbling. "Mamamamama," she babbled happily as she took one more step before dropping to her bum unceremoniously. Three full steps, all on her own. Her parents cheered and clapped so she imitated them both. "Yayayayayay!" she added happily as she was swept up into her mama's arms.

Rey bounced Ami in her arms, while proud tears gathered in her eyes. "You walked! Mama and Daddy are so proud of you, my beautiful girl!" Ben's arms came around her from behind.

"Yes we are! You did so good, kid!" Ben added, tickling Ami's chin. She laughed and yanked her head away but went back for more, which Ben happily obliged.

For the millionth time, with Ami in her arms and Ben at her back, Rey was in awe of her life and what she had become. The scavenger girl from Jakku, now a Jedi, a savior, a soulmate, and a mother. None would have been possible without Ben, or Ami. He sensed her thoughts and kissed her hair fondly. "I wouldn't be me without you, or her, either."

She adjusted Ami on her hip, kissing her head and she spun in Ben's arms. "Thank you, Ben. Thank you for her. Thank you for this life."

His eyes were soft and he shook his head. "I should be thanking you. You saved my wretched soul. Regret is not the Jedi way, but I will always be sorry for the pain I caused."

Rey touched his face with her free hand. "No, you saved mine. So, let's bury it. You know my thoughts, and I know yours. No more apologies, no more dwelling on the past." Ami was growing tired, evident by the way she rested her head on Rey's shoulder and the way her thumb found her mouth. Rey's cheek rested against Ami's head for a moment before she looked Ben in the eye again. "She is our present and our future. If I wasn't bound to you already, I am now. Forever."

Ben swallowed, eyes becoming glassy. "I might not be here forever."

Rey shook her head adamantly. "Don't say that. The more she grows the more I feel you here. We will find a way to bring you back, Ben. I know it."

Ben considered her words before a smug smirk, entirely like his father's, graced his lips. "Forever, you say? Are you proposing?"

Rey raised her chin in mock defiance. "I'm keeping Skywalker, and so is Ami," she told him firmly.

Ben's smirk became a grin. "I'm okay with that. One Solo is enough."

Rey groaned. "That was your first dad joke, wasn't it?" She turned on her heal and proceeded to the Falcon.

Ben shrugged as his other half brought their daughter inside. "What can I say? I'm my father's son!" he called after her. "You're still going to marry me, right? Rey?"

* * *

I groaned when I wrote this, but it is what it is.


End file.
